Deone Walker named second team preseason All-American by Phil Steele

Expectations are high for Kentucky super sophomore Deone Walker. The Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech product figures to be the face of Brad White’s defense after a terrific rookie campaign. Walker’s hype train is not slowing down with talking season officially up and running.

Phil Steele’s College Football Preview is a 352-page data deep dive that includes extensive write ups on every FBS team along with conference predictions, power ratings, and draft rankings. Steele even jumps into the all-conference and All-American discussion. Kentucky had a few player represented on All-SEC teams. However, they also had one player show up on Steele’s All-American team.

Walker was named a preseason second-team All-American at defensive tackle by Steele. Dontay Corelone (Cincinnati) and Tyler Davis (Clemson) were first-team selections. Junior Tafuna (Utah) joined Walker on the second-team. Kris Jenkins (Michigan), Mekhi Wingo (LSU), DeWayne Carter (Duke), and Keith Randolph (Illinois) rounded out the defensive tackle position on the third and fourth teams.

Walker had a banner year in 2022 earning first-team All-American honors after recording 40 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, and two pass breakups. The former four-star recruit figures to be an integral piece of Anwar Stewart’s defensive line.

There is strong preseason buzz for Kentucky’s defense entering 2023. The Wildcats return five starters but that’s not including Zion Childress, Jalen Geiger, and Andru Phillips who each played critical roles in the secondary last season. UK has strong depth on the defensive line and a ton of confidence in the first unit at linebacker. Expectations are high for a reason, but Deone Walker plays a big role in that. The former four-star recruit will need to play like a star for the Cats to reach their potential this fall.